A couple of Time colleagues – International editor Jim Frederick, author of the acclaimed Black Hearts, and Nate Rawlings, an up-and-comer at the magazine and an Army vet of the Iraq war – wore our fingertips to the bone on Veterans Day. It was my first chance to try to chat using Twitter; limited to 140 characters per …

TIME’s photo blog, LightBox, has published a stunning series of photographs of tattoos troops get to commemorate their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. That kind of body art is a little-noticed trend among the small percentage of Americans serving in the military.

When soldiers are injured in combat, the healing doesn’t stop in the hospital. After they return home, the reality sets in. Whether they suffer physical injuries or the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their caretakers and loved ones share their struggle.

Let me tell you a story from the book, Outliers: In the 1950’s a physician discovered a small town in eastern Pennsylvania where there was no heart disease under age 65, no suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, peptic ulcers, and very little crime. People died …

They say war and football are alike in a lot of ways, but deep down we know that’s not true. Perhaps it’s those fundamental differences that explain why two scandals that came to light this week have been handled so differently by their respective overseers.

About 140 miles north of the Pentagon, in the pleasant little college …

In honor of Veterans Day, we will be holding a special Twitter discussion about the disconnect between the U.S. military, veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the rest of American society under the hashtag #TIMEVets.

We noted Monday that alcoholism has become an increasing problem for the U.S. military. Want proof (no pun intended): check out this story from California’s North County Times, which does a good job covering what’s happening at the Marine Corps’ nearby Camp Pendleton:

Only one in three military veterans wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq wars says he or she is getting the help they believe they need from the federal government. That’s the grim bottom line in a new report out Tuesday from the Pew Research Center:

Veterans badly hurt in the post-9/11 era also are more likely than other veterans,

Audiences attending the Opportunity Nation Summit on the campus of Columbia University will hear from some of the leading experts in government, international affairs and the media. They will also get a testimony on public service by one of the Army’s pathbreaking leaders, Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson.

The public-health gurus of the American Public Health Association – all 13,000 of them – are meeting in Washington this week to figure out how we can all lead more healthy lives. It’s a noble pursuit, to be sure. Some of the studies and sessions investigate issues of interest to the nation’s troops. They may sound pretty …